Sheet-feeding machine



W. C. BAXTER.

SHEET FEEDING MACHINE. APPLICATION F| L ED JUNE 18, 1919.

Patented Dec. 12, 1922.

4 SHEETSSHEE1 l.

W. C. BAXTER.

SHEET FEEDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 18, 1919.

1,43s,21 3, Patented Dec. 12, 1922.

4 SHEETS-SHEE] 2.

w. c. BAX'TER.

SHEET FEEDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 18, m9.

Patented Dec'.12,1922.

4 SHEETSSHEE1 3.

W. C. BAXTER.

SHEET FEEDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 18. 1919.

Patented Dec. 12, 1922.

4 SHEETS-SHEEI 4 WILLLAZBE C. BAX'I'ER, OF BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR '10 UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF NEW JERSEY.

Application filed June 18,

To all whom it may cmwem:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM C. BAXTER, a citizen of the- United States, residin at Beverly, in the county of Essex and tate of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Sheet-Feeding Machines, of which the followingdescription in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to sheet feeding machines and more especially to sheet feeding machineswhich feed sheets from a stack, the stack supporting means and the sheet feeding means being movable relatively to each other as the sheets are fed to keep the stock in operative relation with the sheet feeding means.

It is an object of the invention to provide a reliable and effective mechanism for automatically feeding sheets from a stack, the construction and arrangement being preferably such that the feeding means in co-operation with a member controlled by the stack determines the position of the stack during sheet feeding operations. Preferably the feeding means is arranged to be stationary in its vertical plane so as to limit positivel the extent of upward movement of the stac whereby the sheetsare fed forwardly successively in the same plane.

An important feature of the invention resides in a simple, strongand inexpensive construction, comprising a cable and drum mechanism, for lifting the stack of sheets to the feeding means and maintaining the stack in proper position during successve sheet feeding operations.

A further feature of importance relates to the arrangement of a carriage-for carrying a plurality .of stacks of sheets so that the operator may load sheets at one station while the machine continues in operation at another station, thus makin it possible for an operator to attend a num er of machines provided with the automatic sheet feeding means of this invention, the staek lifting means being so constructed as to receive the stack support of the carriage as the latter is shifted to brin a fresh stack of sheets into alinement wit the sheet feeding means,

ra'rnasow, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION or SHEET-FEEDING MACHINE.

1919. Serial no. 305,037.

Other features and objects of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description and will be pointed out 1n the claims.

In the drawings- -Fi 1 is a side view part1 in section of an il ustrative embodiment o the stack supporting and feeding-mechanism of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing part of the stack supporting and feeding mechanism in connection with a machine for operating on the sheet material;

Fig. 3 is an end view of said stack supporting and lifting mechanism looking at, Fig, 1 from the left;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the operating means for the stack lifting and sheet feedin mechanisms;

ig, 5 is a detail view showing a yielding connection between a gear wheel on the main feeding shaft and said shaft; and

Fig. 6 is a sectional view showing a clutch mechanism on said main feeding shaft.

In the illustrative machine the stack of sheets S rests upon a support 10 carried in a carriage 12 provided with two ofthese supports 10 as will be evident from an inspection of Fig. 3 of the drawings, the carriage being movable along tracks 14 to present one stack in operative position to have sheets fed therefrom while the operator is stacking sheets on the other support. After sheets have been completely fed from one support 10 the carriage is moved laterally on the track to bring the other support with its stack of sheets in position below the sheet feeding means, stops 16 (Fig. 3) being positioned at the ends of the tracks 14 to deter mine the position of the carriage so that the selected stack is directly beneath the sheet feeding means to be hereinafter described.

The frame 18 of the machine in the construction shown comprisesvertical osts 20 havin slidably mounted thereon rackets 22 an 24 which provide flat surfaces engaging under the ends of the support 10, so that as the brackets are moved-upwardly alon the posts, the support 10 with its stack 0 sheets is carried upwardly. The means for lifting the support 10 comprises in the illus- 60 with each rocking movement of the arm- 58,.

possible to'narrow the plate, reducing it-{in size-at the other end simply for the-purpose, 1 of saving material' For this reason the'two vertical posts 20 at the smaller end of the top plate are locatedrelatively close together the frame of the machine to extend longitu drum 28 and at the other end with a single drum 30. It will be understood, however,

that the same kind o1? drum, either single or.

double, may be provided at both ends of the shaft. I lifting mechanism are mounted at one end of I u I i ngs, an 'mtermediate'gear 72.;bein7g The operating parts for the stack the top plate of the frame l8'and henoeqitis and hence the bracket 22 sliding onthese'tw'o osts is short and can be conveniently lifted p y one cable 32 attached at its lower end at'. approximately the center of the bracket 22 and passing over an idle pulley 3 4: to'the drum to which itis attached and around whichit is wound when the shaftv 26 1s r0 tated. At the other end of'the' machine frame, the posts 20 are spaced'a considerahle distance apart so that the bracket 24: which.

is slidable on these posts is much longer than the bracket'22 and hence two cables 1361and- 38 preferably are usedto lift bracket 24, one

being attached at each end of the bracket and. passing over; idler pulleys 'etdand 42,

respectively, to the double drum28 whiclrr the cables are attached and uponwhich-they "arelwoundsimultaneously-in the same (111601 tion, thus operating together; too-lift the bracket 24 evenly along the supporting posts 20. In this arrangement-of cables it willbe "noted that the cable 38 passes over-lts Idler pulley 4:2- and vfirst around the upper surface of the drum 28 while the cable36 passesover its idler pulley 4:0 and first on the under surface of the same drum. Thus both cables are wound in the same direction upon the turning of the drum andshaft 26.

The means for feeding the sheets .from'fthe top of the stack comprises, in the illustrative machine, feed wheels 44; having teeth 46 adapted to engage in the upper surface of the sheet being fed, the saidwheels or rolls being driven from a shaft 48 which 'iso erated in timed relation with the feed rolls 50 of a heel lift cutting machine 52 (Fig; 2)

n o my having operative connections with the said feed rolls 50. Extending from'the arm 58v a link 60 pivoted to an arm 62 fixedly'attached to one end of shaft 64, the arrange-v ment being such that the shaft 64 is rocked Mounted' yieldin'gly on the other end or the Horton type designed to clutch the gear y, mesh-re t at" eat dinally of the stack and of the support 10,. and is provided atone end with a double The I had to s aft 428, said gear wheel '10 beingflindrcated in! dotted lines-in-Fig. ill at the "d posed between the" gears 68 and inter; i :T connections thus describedbetween' the "feed was 4st "and" the feed rolls 50; are such-that looth "feed, rollsjareintermittently anaemia a the same direct on and; at the same speed ed that sheets of material ted from the; topfof the stachiare properl'y'eaged by there 50 and died I into the heeljliit cutting machine.

2' I. 'sp'lineon the shaftflfit permits of a tum w movement of the shaft in the feeding .dr- I 'rection withoutturning gear wheel 68 should there develop-excessive resistance to "the r0-' 'tation'otthe; {feed rollsdne to obstruction or v to any gather. causal}; As each sheet {is .fed' fr'om thejtop of thes'taclr thewholeetack is i pressed? member 65 which is lifted so as to presents-the new 'top'sheet-in proper-position for-feeding, that is,'inla 0- sition in which it is pressed'against the-feed rolls at. 'lhis'stack lifting mechani has already-been'described with the exception of vwhich must necessarily be limited to the thickness ofthe sheet of material which has just been :fed from the top of, the stack.

- lln the illustrativemachme, the means for controlling the "stack lifting mechanism the' automatic control which determines the I extent of the upward movement of the stack urginmgthe presser foot yieldinglyinithe' directlon of the stack ofsheet material and permittingv the presser foot to move up? wardly with the stack until the latter comes in contact with the feed rolls 4A: and other rolls 80 which areidly mounted inbrackets 82 extending downwardly from the top frame of the machine, the latter rolls amisting'to maintain the stack in horizontalposition; The means for driving shaft 26 com pr sespreferably a shaft 84 mounted in bearings 86 onthe top of the frame 1-8 and arranged to bef'driven from "the shaft 6t byuconnect onscomprising arms 88 and 90 fixedly attached, respectively, to the shafts 64 and 84, said arms being connected by 'a link 92 pivotally connected to the arms. Fmedly attached to the shaft 84 is an arm 94 carrying a pawl 96 adapted to engage with a ratchet wheel 98 loosely mounted on I the shaft'84, a gear wheel 100 being fixedly" attached to the ratchet wheel 98 and an ranged constantly in mesh'w'ith a gear wheel 102 fixedly attached to a counter shaft; 104.

' in mesh with a worm The latter shaft has fixedly attached there-- to a worm 106 (Fig. 4) which is arranged gear 108 normally clutched to the shaft 26 by detachable clutching means comprising a member 110 which may be shifted manually on the shaft 26 to permit of rotation of the shaft independently of the gear wheel, 108. If the pawl 96 were allowed to engage the ratchet wheel 98 at all times and under all conditions, the shaft 26 would be caused to rotate during the same periods and at the same speed as the shafts 64 and 84. .In order to control the rotation of the shaft 26 operative connection between the pawl .96 and its ratchet Wheel 98 is determined. by means of a shield'member 112 pivoted loosely on the shaft 84 and connected to the presser foot 74 by means'so arranged as to interpose the shield between the pawl 96 and its ratchet wheel when the stack is positioned with the topmost sheet agamst the feed rolls 44. Upon removal of the top sheet so that the presser foot drops into contact with the next subjacent sheet, the shield is moved to uncover the ratchet wheel 98 and permit the pawl 96 to engage therewith so that the shaft 26 ma be driven through the connections alrea y described to cause a, lifting of the stack. The connections between the shield 112and the presser foot 74 are shown 1) arranged constantly. in mesh with rack teeth 120 on the member 74. Pivotally connected to the upper end of the lever 114 IS a link 117 havin its other end pivotally connected to the s ield 112.

In order that the shaft 26 may be operated manually to lift the stack support, the shaft 104 is provided with a hand wheel 121 (Fig. 4) and turning of this shaft through the direct connections comprising the worm 106 and the gear wheel 108 results in the rotation of the shaft 26, there being at no time anythin in the connections to prevent rotation of t e shaft in a direction to lift the stack since the driving connections comprise, as pointed out, the ratchet wheel 98 and the pawl 96 which are so arranged that the ratchet wheel may turn in the direction to rotate the shaft 26 without interference by the pawl 96. Provision is also made for turning the shaft 26 in a direction to lower the support for the stack, this construct-ion comprising referably 'a hand wheel 1'22 fixedly attacii ed to the shaft and means for unclutchin the gear 108 from the shaft 26, the said 0 utching and unclutching means comprising, as stated, 8, Cl1ltCh member 110 keyed to the shaft 26 for rotation therewith but slidable along the shaft so as to releasethe ear 108. Movement of the clutch mem er 1'10 away from' the gear 108 is carried out manually by connections'to the handle-124 comprising a forked 'membe r'1 26 'enga g acollar 128 fixedly secured to the clutc member 110. As shown in Fig. 1,-a bar 130 slidably mounted in the post 132 connects the bifurcated member 126 with the handle 124. When the stackvof material on one of the supports has been entirely fed awa .from the support, the latter may be quic ly lowered and the liftin mechanism returned to initial position simp y b mani ulation of the handle 124 which rees t e shaft 26 "so that the latter may be ra idly turned under control'of the hand whee 122 to permit the dropping of the stack support. When the empty support has been returned to the bottom of the carriage the latter is shifted to bringa fresh stack of material above the supportin brackets 22, 24 of the'stack'lifting mechanism and the operations are repeated, by which the stack is lifted and the sheets periodically fed therefrom, as above described.

The carriage 12 comprises bottom bars 134 provided with bearings for the axles of the wheels 136 which support the care riage on tracks 14and top bars 138 slidable in guideways 140 in the top plate of the frame .18. Connecting the bottom and top bars of the carriage are vertically arranged bars or posts 142, six in number and fixedly attached at their ends to the top and bot tom bars respectively. Extending through and rigidly connecting the bars 142 in loans from frontto rear of the carriage arerods 144 carrying spacing and strengthening rolls 146. Carried by the rods 144 are vertically arranged plates 148 againstwhich the front ends of the sheets are positioned in stacking the sheets on the support 10. These to retain the sheets in position during sheet feeding operations, such that the top sheet only can be fed forwardly through the operation of the feeding roll 44, the subjacent sheets -being retained by the plates 148, as will be clear from an ins ection of Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawings. s the top sheet leaves the stack of sheets the support 10 carrying the stack is raised a distance corresponding to the thickness of the sheet which has. just been fed, thus bringing the new to contact with the feed roll 44 an in position to be fed over the upper edges of the plates 148. As before stated, when the sheets from one stack have been entirely fed from the support 10, the said support may. be quickly lowered by unclutching the shaft 26 from plates 148 serve not only to position the stacks butthe arrangement being sheet into v its driving mechanism and permitting the shaft to turn under manual control exerted 'through the hand wheel 122 until the sup port 10 again rests on the bottom bar 134 I of the carriage. The carriage is then shifted vto bring the other support with its stack of said supports selectively in roll 44 when the machine ma again be operated to feed sheets from t e fresh stack while the operator is loading sheets into the empty portion of the carriage. Since the machine is entirely automatic in its sheet feeding operations one operator may readily take care of several machines by maintainin the supply of sheets on the carriage an shifting the carriage as required.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a machine of the class described, a Vertically stationary feed roll for engaging the upper surface ofthe topmost sheet to feed the same from a stack, means for lifting the stack toward the feed roll at the end of each sheet feeding operation comprisinga shaft having a drum at each end thereof and cables connected to the drums for supporting the stack, means for driving the feed roll and said shaft, and a vertically slidable plunger closely adjacent to the feed roll and controlled by the stack for controlling the connection of said driving means with said shaft.

2. In a machine of the class described, means for feeding sheet material, from a stack comprising a vertically stationary feed roll, means for rotating the feed roll to feed the sheet material, means for liftin the stack of sheet material toward the fee roll, means comprising a pawl and ratchet mechanism for operating said lifting means, and means controlled by the stack for rendering said pawl and ratchet mechanism operative when the top sheet has been fed from the stack in order to bring the stack into contact with the feed roll for a feeding operation of the next top sheet.

3. In a machine of the class described, means for supporting. two stacks of sheets comprising a carriage having movable supports for the stacks, means for lifting a stack on either support selectively, a frame having vertically arranged post s carrying brackets slidable thereon, said carriage be ing movable toposition onesor the other of said brackets so that as sai brackets are raised the support is carried upwardly therewith, and power means for lifting. the brackets controlled by a member resting on the u per surface of the stack.

4;. In 'a machine of the class described, means for feeding sheet material from a stack comprising a feed roll for enga ing rotatably the topmost-sheet of the stac to feed the same, means comprising a shaft for lifting the stack into contact with the feed roll after the feeding of each sheet of mate'- rial means for intermittently driving said fee roll and said shaft, and means controlled by the stack for controlling the operation of said shaft.

osition above meagre 5. In a machine of the class described, means for supporting a stack of sheets, means for lifting the support intermittently comfprising a shaft, means for driving thewith the ratchet after the feeding of each sheet from the top of the stack.

6. In a machine of the character described, a support for a stack of sheets, a vertically stationary feed roll for feeding the sheets one at a time from the top of the stack, means spaced from the feed roll a distance corresponding to the thickness of one sheet for holding all except the topmost sheet from movement in the feeding direction, power means for lifting the stack, and means controlled by the stack for controlling said power means so that the stack is elevated to resent each successive topmost sheet in fee ing position as soon as the receding sheet has been fed by the fee ing means. l a

7. In a machine of the character de: scribed, a support for astack of sheets, means comprising a vertically stationary feed roll for feeding the sheets from the topof the stack, means for elevating the stack subsequently to.the removal of each successive topmost sheet, a retaining late at the front of the stack spaced from t e feed roll a distance corresponding to the thickness of a single sheet and operative to retain all but the topmost sheet of the stack against movement in the feeding direction, and means arran ed to be held yieldingly in contact with t e stack of sheets for controlling the stack lifting means.

8. In a machine of the character described, a support for a stack of sheets, a feed rolland another roll mounted so as to be stationary in a vertical plane and rotatable during thefeeding of sheets succes sively from the top of the stack, means for elevating the stack in the intervals between sheet feeding operations, and a member arranged to engage the topmost sheet at a point between the rolls for controlling said stack lifting means. a

9. In a machine of the class 'described,'a support for sta'cksof'sheets, a plurality of rolls for engaging the top of the stack spaced from each other in the direction of the length of the stack, means for lifting tee.

front of the stack spaced from the adjacent ber arranged to engage the topmost sheet at roll a vertical distance corresponding to a point between certain of the rolls for conthickness of a single sheet and operative to trolling the stack lifting means. 10 retain all but the topmost sheet of the stack In testimony whereof I have signed my against movement in the feeding direction, name to this specification.

means for feeding the successive topmost sheets from the top of the stack, and a mem- WILLIAM C. BAXTER. 

